11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
There wasn't a grave to kick, so he wrote this book..., October 25, 2002
If you need any proof that the representation of Kurt Cobain presented in this book is utter fiction, look no further than Jack Endino's website. Jack Endino, the man who produced so many of NIRVANA's early sessions and who remained a friend of the band, has condemned this book on his website. Endino was in particular very surprised at the stories culled from his sessions with the band. It seems that some "engineers" at the sessions were the sources some very outrageous substance abuse and rock star antics type stories. Well guess what? Those "engineers" do not exist, and everything they have described about those sessions is false, because Mr. Endino says so, and he was with the band the whole time. This book is trash, and I am astonished that some people apparently have not been able to figure that out for themselves. And while I do not endorse invading any person's private space (reading their diaries, or SELLING them to a publisher for $4 million), if you must read something, read the soon-to-be published book collecting Cobain's personal journals.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This is a notorious book, don't buy it, November 20, 2005
But don't take my word for it, see what Jack Endino himself had to say: [begin quote] "... recently someone sent me a photocopy of just two (!) pages (106 and 107) from Chris Sandford's book on Nirvana, entitled "Kurt Cobain". In it he describes the sessions for Bleach from the point of view of "Endino's engineer" and even an unnamed "second source at Reciprocal"; he describes Kurt putting lit matches in his mouth, spraying antiperspirant down his throat, pouring beer on the mixing board, taking "fistfuls of pills", etc, etc. Let me f*****g set this straight: this is pure fiction. In all the times I worked with Kurt I never even saw him drink a beer in the studio. His pre-Nevermind times in the studio with me were utterly normal; the band was there to work ... either [Sandford] made all this up (can't really see why he would want to) or better yet, someone else decided to take the gullible journalist for a ride, figuratively speaking ... I haven't read the rest of the book yet 'cause I don't want to spend the cash, but I hope for Kurt's (and his daughter's) sake that the rest of it isn't like those two pages I got. (Later note: It is. I've since read it. The whole book is full of equally outlandish nonsense. Sigh. OK, now extrapolate from how 100% fictional the two pages I know about are...) Seeing this kind of fiction printed about Kurt really bums me out. Look, all you potential book-writers, Azzerrad's done it already; the rest of you can just go home." [end quote] See [...] for more.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Read's like a Tabloid......, September 18, 2005
Let's not beat around the bush, this book is inaccurate fabricated garbage. Perhaps that was not entirely Sanford's fault, unlike Charles R. Cross later, he didn't have access to Kurt's journals etc, but he still appears to have made very little effort interviewing people and appears to have used mostly tabloids and newspaper articles as his sources; without carefully sifting through what was and was not fabrication. There in lies the problem, this book is filled with mythical fantasy tales regarding Kurt's actions.
Such fabricated examples are...
*Kurt spitting in a crew members face after being interupted giving a woman oral-sex backstage at a Saturday Night Live taping (while he was already in his Monogamous relationship with Courtney).
*Kurt practically attempting to rape a woman.
*Kurt kneeing Eddie Vedder in the groin backstage at a show.
As most Nirvana fans know, Kurt appeared on MTV's "Headbangers Ball" in a Yellow Gown with Krist Novoselic, after which the two jokingly flirted with each other. Nobody took it seriously. But OH NO, according to Sanford, Kurt was a serious cross dresser and was LEGITIMATELY flirting with Novoselic.
You get the idea. This book reads like the infamous 'Vanity Fair' article all over again.
It does at least have some nice photos, which is why i'm being generous and giving it 1 star.
But do yourself a favour, read Charles R. Cross's "Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain" for the real story of Cobain's life.
James B. Mills
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